


i believe what's in front of me

by heterocosmica



Series: Happy Snape family AU [8]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Conversations, Friendship, Gen, Severus Snape is Godfather to Neville Longbottom, Ummm how can I say this, as canon compliant as an AU can get, pregnancy mention, yeah i know those two tags don't go together but i warned you and now i can rest easily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-18 23:56:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20647814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heterocosmica/pseuds/heterocosmica
Summary: Alice and Severus talk.*Snippets of friendship from 1972 to 1981.





	i believe what's in front of me

**Author's Note:**

> Part of the Happy Snape family AU. This is the first piece of writing I'm publishing as a part of this AU but there will certainly be more (though most likely not in chronological order, I tried, it just wasn't working for me). If you want to check out more of this AU (including the edits) check out my [tumblr tag for it](http://heterocosmica.tumblr.com/tagged/snape-family). Hope you have as much fun with this as I am!
> 
> *
> 
> comments on my fics are always moderated, hate will not be published, if you don't like Snape just don't read this.

**1972**

"Think I lost my toad."

"You lost your toad?" He asks with a frown, his face scrunched up just so.

She smiled gently, shaking her head.

"No, I _think_ I lost my toad."

He sighed and it made her giggle.

"What does that _mean_ then, Alice?"

"It means that I need you to get under the desk to look for her."

She jerked her head towards the Library doors and he quickly glanced in that direction before sliding under the desk.

"You could have warned me that _she_ was coming down here today!" he hissed out, fingers of his right hand digging into her left ankle.

"How was I supposed to know that? She doesn't actually _talk_ to me!" Alice responded, murmuring towards her own lap.

Slowly, she pushed her hand towards him, handing him her toad.

"I found your toad!" he responded, grabbing Lucile out of her hand and poking her in the knee.

"Please tell me she's gone, my knees are hurting. This floor is stone, you know?"

"Nope, not yet."

"Well, I'm _not_ going to spend the day kneeling under this desk then. Distract her or something!"

Alice slipped under the desk to kneel next to him.

"How am I supposed to distract her, Severus? What do you want me to do!?"

They're staring at each other intensely, kneeling on the Library floor, under a desk that most certainly has a bottom covered with Drooble's Best Blowing Gum (though they're both way too scared to check) when the new librarian, Madam Pince, bends down and pulls them both out by their ears.

Severus holds on tightly to Lucile as they're kicked out of and banned from the Library for the next month.

**1973**

"Think Black asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him just now."

"Which Black?"

"The worse one. I think. Again, I'm not sure if he was really asking."

"Well what did you say?" he asks, trying hard to keep a smirk from his face.

"Oh, stop making that face, Severus! Must you enjoy my misery?"

"Your_ misery_?" he lets out a breathy laugh "It's just a date. You're allowed to say no."

"You think it's a _date_?" she asks with a panicked look.

"Well isn't it? Isn't that what people mean when they ask you to Hogsmeade?"

"I don't know, it's our first trip! How do you know that?"

Shifting in his seat, he looks away from her. Staring out the window, he murmurs "I dunno."

"Wait! Did someone ask you to Hogsmeade? Did they? Ooooh! They did! Who was it?!"

He shifts more away from her and towards the window as she grabs his sleeve and starts pulling him towards her.

"Who was it?! Come on you have to tell me! _It's law!_"

"It's _law_? For me to tell you if someone asked me to Hogsmeade?"

"Yes. It's law. You wouldn't know it, you grew up with Muggles."

With a laugh, he pushed her hands off his sleeve, trapping her hands in one of his.

"Law?"

"Yes, there's a law that says 'Severus Snape must tell Alice Fortescue all his romantic secrets'. Professor Binns dedicated a whole lecture to it a few months ago but you must have slept through it." She says with a cheeky smile.

It makes him sigh, and, with a tiny smile on his lips, he leans in and whispers "All right-"

**1976**

"Think I failed my Divination OWL."

"Ha! I am certain I aced that one!"

"How could you possibly be-"

"Well, I am."

She clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes at him. "You can't know that for sure."

"Maybe I can." he said with a smug look "Maybe I'm a _seer_."

"If you're a seer then why didn't you do better at Transfiguration?"

"Ummm, because McGonagall doesn't teach anyone but Gryffindors?"

"That's just not true! Not even slightly. You're just shite at Transfiguration. Oh! By the way! Did you know that Pettigrew is the first in our class at Transfiguration?"

"I don't know where you got that but that can't _possibly_ be fact." he said, face scrunched up in a frown "And even if it was, who needs to be good at torture Charms for dunderheads?"

"You're not good at Cha-"

"I'm _fine_ at Charms!" scoffing, he continued "Anyway, don't you want to know how I got an O on my Divination OWL?"

"Oh, so now you've gotten an O? Pray tell."

Grinning at her unamused look, he started "I was the only one who predicted the goat thing."

"You predicted the goat thing? You predicted that one of Aberforth's goats would run away from Hogsmeade and barge into the Great Hall while the seventh years were doing their Divination NEWTs? How could you possibly predict that?"

"Well, see, first I asked Aberforth if I could borrow one of his goats-"

"No!"

"Yea."

A grin spread on her face "A self fulfilling prophecy then. I'm a bit annoyed I hadn't thought of it myself now."

Their eyes met and they both dissolved into peals of laughter.

"I swear, sometimes I think you ought to have been in Slytherin."

**1977**

"Think I'm gonna marry Frank."

"Has he asked you to?"

"No."

"Are you actually seeing each other now?"

"No."

"So how is today different from the five times you've already told me this?" he asks, not looking up from his Arithmancy notes.

"Well, he _looked_ at me today."

Slowly rising his head, Severus looked at her with resignation "Alice, he looks at you every day. He sits across from you at meal time. I saw him speaking to you yesterday."

"Today, he looked at me differently. I really think he likes me. Yea, think I'm gonna marry him. I'm gonna marry Frank."

With a sigh, he turned back to his notes. "Maybe you should ask him first. I hear people tend to enjoy _knowing_ they're marrying someone before they actually marry them. Or I can ask him for you if it would end this conversation?"

"Absolutely not! You can't mess with our destiny. True love has to happen on its own."

"True love?"

"Yes, true love. Now shut up and let me copy your answer for problem six."

**1978**

"Think I want to be an Auror."

"Is this because Frank wants to be an Auror and you're scared for him or because Evans wants to be an Auror and you want to rub it in her face how much better than her you are at Defence?"

"Can't it be both? Can't I be a _multifaceted_ woman?" She says with a grin.

His responding grin meets her "I don't think so, not until you turn 17 at least. Until then you can only be a multifaceted girl."

She frowns, her nose wrinkling in disgust, and it makes his smile widen "And here I was told I became a woman back when I was 13."

He lets out a startled laugh which gets them shushed by Madam Pince. "In folk tales, the main difference between a woman and a girl was if she was_ wed_." he ended with a cough for emphasis and a pointed look.

Alice lit up like a forest fire, face glowing red in a split second. "Fine. Multifaceted girl. So what do you think?"

"I think it's stupid" he says, rolling his eyes "and it's reckless. We're already in something akin to a war and putting yourself in additional danger doesn't seem sane. But I also know you're going to do it, so why are you asking me?"

"Do you want to be an Auror with me?"

"Absolutely not."

**1979**

"Think this war might not end well for us."

"That's what you want to talk about the day before your wedding? The war?"

"Well, what else is there to talk about? Everything is ready for tomorrow. I already dread spending too much time with Frank's mother. My mother set the florist on fire. It's all going according to the plan."

"I'm sorry- that was _the plan_?"

"Yes, that's how all weddings go. Haven't you ever been to one?"

"Oh, I have, I just thought gadjo weddings were... tamer. They only last one day, how much could you even really do in one day? That's not even long enough to get properly drunk."

They sit in silence for a few moments, waiting for something to feel right again. It doesn't.

"Really, I think this war might not end well for us. Any of us. And if something happens to me-"

"Alice, just because you're having wedding jitters doesn't mean we're all going to die in a war. Please, relax, I'm beggin you."

"Severus-"

"I owe you five galleons, by the way. But I'm waiting until you're actually married to give them to you."

She smiles and takes his hand in both of hers, playing with his fingers absentmindedly. "I thought we agreed on ten?"

"No, ten was only if _you_ lost.

**1980**

"Think it's gonna be a boy."

"How can you tell?"

"I don't know. It's a feeling."

Slowly, she takes his hand in hers and places it on her belly, right above her navel. "He's started kicking recently. Talk to him. Say hi."

"You want me to _say hi_ to your _stomach_?"

Just as he utters those words, he feels a tiny bump push out under her skin to meet his hand. Giving her a look that clearly states 'if you tell anyone I did this no one will ever find your body', he leans down closer, speaking in low tones to the bump.

"Your mummy thinks you're going to be a boy because she's mental. But I can tell you're a girl. Come out, prove her wrong, and I'll put half my winnings into your education fund. A smart girl like you must have the very best Potions equipment, especially if that dullard Slughorn ends up teaching you."

Slowly moving his hand along Alice's belly, following the baby's kicks, he continues. "You're gonna be so smart you'll eat Potter's brat for breakfast."

Alice cards her fingers through his hair, smiling down at his hunched form as he continues speaking nonsense to her baby bump. She can ask him if he wants to be the Godfather later, there's no rush.

**1981**

"Think I'm gonna die soon."

Her hands are trembling but her voice is clear and steady as she tells him this. It's an average Sunday evening, Neville had just been put to bed, and Frank stepped out to get some more milk just moments before. It's just the two of them and he feels dread wash over him as he brushes her off.

"Alice, you heard Dumbledore, he thinks we're nearing the end of this thing. Why are you-"

"Oh, Severus, don't be naive. You and I both very well know that, for this to end, a lot of people will probably have to die. It's only natural, it's a war."

"Yes, and that _a lot_ isn't going to be you. I keep telling you, you should stay outside of the battlefield now. You've got a child. You and Frank need to live for the adorable little brat you've created."

"I'm just saying, things happen."

"And how is that a good thing to say?"

"Well, sometimes bad things need to be said, too. Because they're true."

"Alice, you're not going to die. I keep telling you, we should just slip you three into the Muggle society until this all quiets. Mama could help you out for a bit, we could hide you in plain sight. As if he will look for you in_ Cokeworth_."

"He might look for _you_ there. I don't want to put an extra target on your family."

"No one is looking for _me_. I'm insignificant. To both sides. No one cares. No one would find you."

"No" she says, stern look on her face, and he feels like he'd been scolded even though he knows he is in the right. "We are not leaving our family, we are not leaving our jobs, and we are not putting you in more danger. I'm just being silly, it's anxiety, this foreboding feeling, it's not real."

"Exactly."

"Exactly."

**1986**

"Think I did magic!"

"Oh? You think so? What did you do, tadpole?"

"I made the pear tree bend down to give me pears!"

"You did? That's excellent! Just a few more years now and you'll be at Hogwarts and they have all sorts of other trees there! Maybe those will like you too."

"You think so?"

Severus looks into the little face smiling its gaptoothed smile up at him and grins "I know so." he says before pulling a candy wrapper from his pocket.

"Here" pushing the slightly sticky paper into the child's hand, he whispers "your mummy must have sensed that you did magic today because she sent you this."

The curly haired ball of sunshine grins so wide Severus wonders if kids faces _can_ actually stick like that before giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek and running off to put the new candy wrapper with the rest of the collection.

From behind him, he hears Augusta Longbottom sigh and he lets his eyes slip closed, taking a deep breath to try and make himself not cry.

The kid races down back to him soon, and then it's all smiles as he pushes aside the image of Alice, broken but still trying, out of his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcoming feedback!


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